Leash Pulling

Hello All-

I have a 10 month old chocolate lab, who is very strong at the beginning of a walk. He will pull incessantly to the point that he has trouble breathing. We took him to a local dog trainer, and their immediate advice was to put a gentle leader on him. I think that could be a last resort solution, but I would like to make an effort to avoid tactics such as that, as he is generally very intelligent and trainable. Recently, I will stop walking and make him heel when he pulls, trying to teach that pulling gets him nowhere. Sometimes this works, but other times it does not.

Is he pulling like this just because of his young age, or should he be well behaved on a leash at this point? I am just looking for any strategy, advice, or resources to help prevent him from pulling on a leash, without using items such as a gentle leader or pincher collar. The unfortunate thing is that when off leash, he will not get more than 20ft from you, and will constantly wait and look back for you. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

If you haven't got him leash trained by 10 month using normal methods, I would put a pinch collar on the dog. I had my boys trained at 4 months in a few days. Some never seem to learn, like one of my other boys. In high distraction places, I still put a pinch on him. Tools have their place.

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how well he should be on leash really depends on the training and work put into it (and how effective the training was) not age related.

I don't see why you wouldn't try hte halter. Work on desentization so it isn't aversive but from there you can train good manners now VS letting him continue to practice the pulling and hurting his throat (which can lead to scar tissue and issues years down the road).

Regardless of tool the first step is starting with few distractions. are you able to loose leash walk in the house? in the yard? if not you need to start there and if possible, NOT walk him anywhere else where he continues to practice bad leash manners. Train the proper position for short periods daily in an environment he can do it. SLOWLY increase distractions. Keep walks short at first until you can get consistancy over time.

also exercise before walking so he isn't primed and full of fresh energy

Really depends what your level of training and expectations are...for example, we don't use leashes unless going for a "formal walk". At 10 months our black lab was completely trained off leash to heal etc. Around the house, working in the yard etc, we don't use leashes.

The most important thing to remember is that, if your chocolate lab pulls and drags you or moves forward, you are rewarding him without meaning to. Just the act of pulling and "moving forward" is a reward for the dog that is pulling.

I agree with the use of a prong collar or slip chain style collar. If you haven't had any success training this yourself, there is nothing wrong with utilizing a tool properly to assist you with this. I personally don't like gentle leads at all...

My Zeke is about 27 months old. Like xracer4844 my boy only needs a leash for walks around the neighborhood streets, and even then that's more for his protection than the need to leash him. If I take a stroll he'll walk by my side with no problem, if he starts to get a little ahead a simple "Zeke" reminds him to slow down.

Zeke is very very very, did I say very?, food motivated, if I want him to do something a healthy treat is the reward and he learns quickly.

I did two things, a very short slip lead where he had no choice but to stay with me, if he started to pull it was "Zeke, sit" he would and we'd start again. It took a lot of patience and consistency. And if you're not the only one walking the dog the other person has to follow the same rule.

The other is hold a treat in your hand with your arm down by your side as you walk. Every now and then give the dog one, but only if the dog is walking how you want him/her to walk. Again it took a lot of patience and consistency but it can be done.

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If you haven't got him leash trained by 10 month using normal methods, I would put a pinch collar on the dog. I had my boys trained at 4 months in a few days. Some never seem to learn, like one of my other boys. In high distraction places, I still put a pinch on him. Tools have their place.

Leash Pulling

I went through every collar on the market with my lab. Even the prong didn't work. But the Halti worked! In contrast, for my current dog, the gentle least sucked and we're now using the prong because it's the most effective. Don't dismiss the tool.